Boulder — While it seemed only a matter of time before Emma Coburn would break the American record in the steeplechase that was held by training partner and fellow Colorado alum Jenny Simpson for nearly seven years, it was equally inevitable that Simpson would celebrate the news without a bruised ego.
In fact, when it happened last month at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Ore., Simpson shed tears of joy for Coburn who, like Simpson, ran the steeplechase in the Olympics while a CU student. It helped that they now focus on different events. At the same meet where Coburn took her record, Simpson ran the fastest 1,500 meters this year by an American woman.